Alright what do you expect from your team this season. Please mention your team before.

My team are the Montreal Canadiens.

After a great surprising for the Canadiens last season, I expect great things from them. I believe there going to win the North East and win the Eastern Conference.

I believe that players like Plekanec and the Kostysyn brothers to have an even better season this year. They played surprisingly well last year. I believe if healthy there going to be even better.

Now on to the Captain, a lot of people think that Koivu's numbers are done in Montreal, but I totally disagree with them. Koivu is the heart and soul for this team and he's a great player. He might not be the best goal scorer on this team, and he doesn't have a hard shot, but he's a great playmaker and he knows how to find his open linemates. I also believe if they do trade him away, it's going to hurt them more then help him, because it's hard to replace a great leader like him. Montreal fans have seen in the past, that this team struggles when he's not in the lineup.

Kovalev really surprised me last year, I didn't expect him to get 80 points or even score 35 goals. I believe he's one of the most talented players in the league. He's defenitely without a doubt the most gifted player when it comes to stick handling. If motivated next year then I expect the same numbers from him. He also impressed on the penalty kill, he actually tried unlike two seasons ago.

Now on to the defense. I believe that Markov is one of the best defensemans in the league, he doesnt do many mistakes, he's smart on the defensive end and he's great from the point. Komisarek is getting better every year, he had a wonderful year last season, he was near the top in hits and he led the league in block shots. I expect the same from him this year. I think losing Streit though is really going to hurt us. He did everything on the ice and he's going to be missed.

The Canadiens added two key players this off-season, one being Tanguay. I don't expect much things from him because if I do then I know he's going to fail, so I won't set any goals from him. If he plays like he's capable of doing then he'll be a great addition. We also added Laraque, Montreal finally got an enforcer, he's defenitely help our offensive players, there now going to have more ice to play with, they also won't get push around as much, like they did last year. With him as well, it means that Komasarek won't need to drop the gloves anymore.

Now on to Carey Price. He played really well after Huet got traded, he was one of the best goaltenders in the league after the trading deadline. He's very competetive, he's got a good glove and he's quick. I see a lot of potential in him and he's only going to get better. He has a chance to become one of the best goalies in the league in a few seasons. Now I know he didn't play well against the Flyers and he let in some weak goals, especially glove side, but you have to remember that he had three broken fingers on that hand. He's going to be something special and he's going to prove next year.

The Philadelphia Flyers

After a crazy ride last season, first starting from the bottom of the barrel, then enduring a terrible 10-game losing streak, and then finally making an incredible run all the way to the ECFs, ultimately IO can say I was very happy with the Flyer's performance last year.

We can look at a few things here with pros and cons for this season, first the cons. R.J. Umberger has been sent to Columbus because the Flyers felt his salary wasn't going to fit into our numbers. Then well... Jimmy dowd and Patrick Thoresen aren't coming back... in other words, not too many impactful absences. Our defense will continue to be an issue all season, the Flyers have been thiking of ways to clear salary space all season to bring in the right d-man, but with hatche returning to the roster and not retiring, the Flyer's hands are a bit tied. Hatch will most likley start off on the LTIR which will allow us 3.5 million space, that is, until his return. The D-side has been loaded with tons of young potential, put it this way, Holmgren has thrown tons of **** at the wall, and he's waiting to see what will stick, ultimately we may get one or two good d-men out of the acquisitions tihs season. Either way, the D is a huge question mark.

Now the pros... well simon Gagne is likley to return at full health this season which adds another 80 or so points to the squad, not to mention his play will most likley positively influence the play of Briere. Despite losing Umberger, the Flyers managed to keep together a solid core of young guys from their affiliate's Calder Cup team with Mike Richards, Jeff carter and Randy Jones. Health will be a mian issue throughout the entire year with guys like Joffrey Lupul and Simon Gagne. But ultimately, I feel the Flyers will only improve despite the loss of R.J. Umberger, they have a team full of young guys who are only bound to improve.

I expect the Flyers to place 2nd in the Atlantic and 4th in the Conference, they have some pretty good playoff performers, but I won't touch on their post-seasomn play just yet. All in all, just expect these guys to be buzzing at the top.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Well the fun thing about being a Blue Jacket fan is that we've got to root for the Underdog since about October 7, 2000. If you're not into that kinda thing I recommend that you just ignore the BJ's altogether. Fortunately for me I've always had a habit of loving the underdogs and this season with the BJ's looks like one I can enjoy.

A few names I wanna point out in my Expectations here;

Rick Nash
Jared Boll
Rostislav Klesla
Pascal Leclaire

but most importantly.... Ken Hitchcock.

If the BJ's plan on even coming close to breaking their anti-playoff spree, they'll need the effort from those 5 names. Hitchcock prior to last season had never, and I repeat NEVER missed the post season while coaching in the NHL. In Columbus last season his streak was shattered. However that didnt mean he didnt push the Blue Jackets to a steller performance while under his watch. If anyone I named is going to light the proverbial fire under this rosters ****.its going to be Hitchcock.

Rick Nash, how can you not love this guy? He's worked like hardly any other player I've ever seen for his club, come up empty handed and still work just as hard next season. With Foote leaving back to Colorado, Nash finally got the Captaincy he's been earning his whole career. We've seen Nash work some magic on the international level so theres no doubt he's capable of being a game changer. Thing is with Nash he has always needed his linemates and his bench to be in the game as much as he is. When everyone around him has that fire in their eyes, all I can say keep the camera on him.

The BJ's may not be in the most prestigious division, but the Central does have some very very top notch upcoming Talent.... oh yeah, and the Wings. Watch for the Blue Jackets to place close 3rd in the Central Division this season. You can bet Detroit will defend the #1 seed again and I'm favoring Chicago to put up a great fight for #2. If Columbus has a chance at making the playoffs its going to have to be through Chicago and Nashville. St. Louis may be a factor, but I have no respect for the Blues.

Vancouver Canucks=Rough team with some good/great individualists.

Canucks has done a great job this summer signing of solid/tough players.
Luongo is a great goalie so the team is very promising.
Underrated defense IMO.
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Hitchcock is an intelligent coach but wasn't so great one though.
He thinks too much of defense, too shy for offensive play.
I know Hitchcock coached Dallas for the Champion(98-99) so have to give a big kudos to him still(:

I'm guessing you've never heard the phrase "Offense puts people in the stands, Defense wins championships".

BStreetBullies, I was curious what you expect from Biron next season. During the regular season he was inconsistent, but played well enough to make the playoffs. I'm the first to point out though in the playoffs he played remarkably well. He stood on his head and he played the best hockey of his career, especially against Montreal. So my question to you is this. Do you believe Biron will have a better year this season, or he's kind of a weak link in your team. Someone that might ruin your chances of making the playoffs.

Same question goes out to you Icegoat, after a great year from Pascal Leclaire, what do you expect from him? Do you expect the same as last season? Or some improvement from his part. I think he has the potential to become even better.

My team is the Montreal Canadiens.

My expectations for my club is really high this year, and with great reason. Montreal was the best offensive team last year(with the addition of Tanguay it should only get better), number one on the Power Play, and finished first placed in the Eastern Conference. I think the thing that sets us apart from a lot of teams is that we have four good lines that can put the puck in the net anytime there given ice time. Another confidence booster that I have is that a lot of that production came from our young guns, and with the experience they gain from last year they'll only get better with time. Like MJ said losing Streit will hurt us, especially on the power play, but is lost wont be as costly as MJ thinks. He did score 62 points, but with Tanguay in the line-up it actually erases itself out, because Tanguay can easily put up 80 points in Montreal's system. Alex Kovalev is what makes this team so good. If he doesn't produce then this team wont live up to their full potential, but with this being is contract year I really see him putting up the same numbers as he did a year ago, maybe even better. One of our biggest addition this off-season was adding George Laracque. Everyone last year thought Montreal was one of the softest team in the NHL, and with good reason. With the addition of Laracque that's all going to change. No one wants to mess with this dude meaning no one will takecheap shotson our small skaters. Now on to the defense. I really like our defense especially our top 4: Markov, Hamrlik, Komisarek, Gorges. I trully beleive were one of the best defensive teams in the league. We have size, experience and most of all smarts. Carey Price will emerge as one of the best goalies in the NHL next year. And like everyone knows your best defensemen is your goaltender. He was embarassed by his performance last year, and this kid as so much pride that he wont let it happen twice. I can see this team advancing to the Conference Finals this year, and if we do get Sundin then the Stanley Cup finals is definitely not out of the question.

Montreal Canadiens
Finish: 1st in the Noth-east and 2nd in the Eastern Confrence.. or maybe 2nd in the North-Easte (to Boston) and 4th in the East.

Instead of repeating what Bosh and MJ saidI'll dd more. With sucha great defense we should imrove our penatly kill if we want a run for the cup. That killed us especially in the Philly series. I don't think the Habs will finish 1st in the confrence for a long time. To be honest I thik you guys are over wheliming yourself.. don't do that because god fobid we miss the playoffs we'll all choke! I remeber in 2003, the year after Theo had a amazing season everyone was predictingthe Habs to make it up to 5th in the East.. but they missd the playoffs! The answer lies in

Kovalev: Can he repeat his heroics?
Tanguay: Should he deliver an stellar season.. at least 50+ assists
Plekanec: Tie to step up and be even better
Kosttsyns: Their speed is key
Price: Ihope you're right about his 3 broken fingers because when the media asked him he denied it
Halak: this guy sucks

Oh and one more thing, the media eats you up in Montreal, hopefully these young players can sand the pressure or else we won't be winning a cup in a very long time. We need more french players on our team.. so good job to signing Laraque and Tanguay.. that's a start.
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Don't forget a huge reason we finished above Pittsburg was because of the 16 points we stole from Boston.. I doubt that would happen again.

In 15 years of being a Montreal Canadiens fan i've never hyped them once. It seems that the pieces are falling in place and we might not win it this year, but the time will be soon.

There's no way Boston is finishing ahead of us in the North East. Yes they did command the series last year, but whenever we actually tried we dominated Boston. The have some young talent(I'm a big fan of Lucic) but will be the better team once again.

Please dont compare Theodore to Price. You could tell that Theodore was aiming for a big contract. He was never that good previous to 2003. He was a 500. type of goalie. You can tell Price loves the game, and he wants to make himself better. You'll see a big year from Price this Year.

Kovalev: Contract year need I say more
Tanguay: I hate it when french canadiens joins our club, but this system is the right fit
Plekanec: Gets better every year, check the stats
Kostysyns Brothers: Only 21 and 23 years of age, last years experience is key for their success this season
Price: I read and article in the paper, and heard it on a french radio station about it. Only 20 years of age, only will get better. Brodeur had a similar start at the beggining of his NHL career.


We dont need more french canadiens on this team they always choke when they play here. Look at Ribeiro for example.

Contraversley I can say French players will play with more pride than the idiot Russians like Kovalev who play 2 great seasons and 2 bad seasons.

I never said anything bad about Plekanec, Kostisyn, or Price. I never said Theodor was any good. In fact Theodore winning the Hart and the Vezina was all a stupid scandal. But in 2002 alot of sports writers were predicting big things for the habs and we missed the playoffs.

Boston, don't forget last year's Boston was just a puppet compared to this years'. You're forgeting Bergeron was absent a whole season. That's a good 70-80 points down the drain which Boston can put to good use.